Sociological Discussion

Throughouthistory, women have been degraded, dehumanized, secluded, andsilenced because of gendered chores. Gender inequality is one of theleading forms social inequalities around the globe. The differencesin gender inequality between the industrialized and the emergingeconomies are due to historical developments, culture, religion,geographic location, and historical development. Religion plays asignificant role in the cultural and social practices of a place asit is embedded within the people’s practices. The status andtreatment of women is a result of cultural practices and religioninterpretations that accept adverse actions like honor killings.

Lenskiand Nolan discuss the differences in status of women inindustrialized societies such as those in the West and inindustrializing societies, and especially those where Islam is thedominant religion, such as Pakistan (2009). The two authors assertthat 72% of the agricultural societies and 30% of gatherercommunities control women and design how they interact as part ofsociocultural evolution (Nolan&amp Lenski, 2009).The industrial societies adopted the traditional values formed duringthe agrarian age to define the occupational specialization customs ofwomen. Social inequality increased even during the advent of thepostindustrial societies that use technology to create an informationeconomy.

Honorkillings are common in Islamic societies that still hold on tovirtues associated with hunting and gathering societies that werecontrolled by age and gender. Women remain under the control of theirmale kin, who must be present during all public appearances to ensurecomplete submission. Qandeel Baloch is a young Pakistan social mediawith over 750,000 followers in Facebook, with whom she interacted byposting vides and pictures of herself (Saifi, 2016). She wasstrangled to death by her brother to death in their home after thebrother complained that she was posting inappropriate pictures. Honorkillings are acceptable and advanced by the Islamic culture as a wayof cleansing women and girls that go against family traditionsparticularly in exposing their nakedness to the world.

Balochexpressed her ideas through sharing of feminine ideas abouthairstyles, cooing confessions, and bedroom discussions on crushes(Saifi, 2016). Although Baloch and other young Islamic girls have theright to expression, they are curtailed from flirting by socialgendered laws that prohibit girls from stating sexual or romanceactivities openly. Muslim men consider the culture of openly flirtingas evil and they allow cleansing of the family name by killing theperpetrator. Furthermore, a Pakistan mother set her daughter on fireas a cleansing process to protect the name of the family in thesociety. Baloch asserted before her death that she was dedicated topromoting the rights of women that have been dominated by men. Womenin Pakistan and other Islam countries are forbidden from even makingadvances on men, since marriages are mostly arranged according to thedecisions of the male members of kin and family. For example, a mankilled his sister in Pakistan following an argument over marriage.

Moreover,Baloch’s must have been killed because of leaving her husband in2015 against her family’s demands, which in effect put her life indanger. Women have no right over whom to marry or when to quit amarriage in Pakistan since that action stains the family name andcalls for a cleansing action by the male members of family. Ideally,only the religious and political leaders can start a campaign to stophonor killing to cleanse the name of an affected family once a womenhas disobey a demand. Honor killings target women and young girls andis aimed at silencing them from self-expression.